Hello Breanna, thanks for the response to my message. Please see my comment on the Bill which I provided via DearSA, below. The closing date was today so I sincerely hope some other interested SA hosts saw my post and had time to provide input!
As I am self-employed, I joined Airbnb to generate an additional (small!) income by renting out my unused spaces at home. Cost of living is constantly increasing, I am nearing retirement-age and this means my income is supplemented and will hopefully prevent me from becoming dependent on the government for future support in the form of grants. I wish to add that I pay tax on this additional income so govt is already getting their fair share of the money I earn. I believe the government is buckling under the unhappiness of more established tourist accommodation providers like hotels etc because of competition introduced by Airbnb. Competition drives growth, and South Africa can attract more than enough tourists to satisfy all providers of accommodation, without imposing unnecessary rules on people renting out spare rooms and garden cottages. AirBnB fills a gap in the market that pre-existing accommodation providers could not address, so it has come into existence for good reason! Government must also bear in mind that different tourists have different preferences – some prefer hotels, and others a more affordable, homely experience with a personal touch. Another thing to bear in mind is that Airbnb already has multiple checks and balances in place to ensure their hosts live up to the high standards set by Airbnb, so I fail to see what additional benefits any local efforts at regulation will bring. The dept of Tourism plans to add another useless new layer of red tape by introducing a registration system that will require the inspection of properties. This is ludicrous considering that the dept. is unable to undertake even the very basics such as building/creating tourist attractions in SA. Someone who rents out a single room for a small additional income can simply not be treated the same as a hotel or an operator who buys multiple rental properties. As a regulatory compliance officer, I am very aware of the amount of regulation imposed by our Government, however, most those do not result in the desired effect as South Africa is still crippled by corruption and pointless red tape that is smothering the growth of the South African economy. Just leave Airbnb hosts be, we do not require this regulation.
